A number of methods and systems have been proposed for providing assistance in operating a device, system or machine, such as an automobile. For example, several driving assistance systems were disclosed in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 20030060936 A1, published Mar. 27, 2003 and U.S. Published Patent Application No. 20040172185 A1, published Sep. 2, 2004. In order to enhance performance, some driver assisting systems may require estimation of a driver's intention in driving a vehicle. A system for estimating a driver's intention may collect estimates of the driver's intention using movement of the driver's eyes. For example, directions to which the driver's eyes turn are projected onto a plane divided into a number of regions, for calculating a distribution of projected eye directions over the divided regions to estimate the driver's intention. However, such type of systems lacks accuracy in estimating the driver's intention because the driver's eyes move all the time and are not always related to a “driving” intention of the driver.
Therefore, there is a need for reliable driver's intention estimation systems that can estimate the driver's intention with satisfactory accuracy.